In a solar cell element employing semiconductor substrate made of silicon or the like, electrodes provided at a light-receiving-surface side thereof include a plurality of linearly shaped current-collecting electrodes and an output-extracting electrode which intersects the current-collecting electrodes. To increase the amount of light received by the solar cell element, electrodes at the light-receiving-surface side are formed so as to have narrow linewidth. Such electrodes may be formed by means of screen printing by applying electrically conductive paste in a prescribed configuration and subjecting this to heat treatment. Japanese Patent Application Publication Kokai No. 2005-111788 discloses, as a printing plate which may be used in screen printing, a printing plate equipped with a metal plate, a through-hole through which electrically conductive paste can pass, and an emulsion provided on one surface of the metal plate and an inner surface of the through-hole.
However, if the foregoing printing plate is used to carry out printing over multiple iterations, because electrically conductive paste supplied to the through-hole makes the emulsion tend to delaminate and reduces the endurance of the printing plate, the possibility has existed that productivity could be reduced.